For the Woman who has Everything
by actionman81
Summary: Peggy Carter wakes up to her heart's desire, but is it all that it seems to be?


1954  
Another World

Peggy Carter rolled over in her sleep. Her eyelids fluttered and finally opened. She smiled. She was in bed, lying next to the love of her life. He felt her movement next to him in bed and smiled back at her.  
"I love you, Peggy' he looked into her eyes from the pillow next to hers  
"I love you too, Steve" she smiled lazily

Howard Stark's Mansion

"What the hell is going on, Howard?" Daniel Sousa shouted at the other man  
"How the hell should I know?" Howard shouted back  
"Gentlemen, please" Edwin Jarvis tried to be a mediator  
Howard and Daniel kept arguing with each other over Jarvis' pleas  
Finally, a sharp whistle interrupted the conversation  
"That's quite enough" Ana Jarvis glared at the men  
They wheeled around and looked startled, even Howard  
"Ms. Carter needs all the help she can get right now. Your childish arguing won't help her" she scolded  
The men looked at one another, shame faced. They turned their attention back to Peggy Carter, who lay, unresponsive, on a standard issue hospital bed.  
Daniel leaned over the bed, one arm plugged into his crutch, the other arm took her hand, "Come on, Peggy" he sighed, "Wake up, come back to us"

Another World

"Wake up, darling" Steve smiled  
Peggy stretched lazily and smiled back, "Just a few more minutes"  
Steve leaned over the bed, fully dressed in an Army dress uniform, "Sorry" he shrugged, "I've got to get to the base, and you've got work to do"  
"Work" Peggy mused on the word. She remembered secret missions, and her friends, Howard, Jarvis and Ana.  
"Mummy!" a blonde little boy raced into the room. His blue t-shirt and shorts was reminiscent of something, Peggy frowned, but she couldn't quite remember what  
"Right then" she swung her feet over the bed and onto the floor, "Let's get you ready, little man"  
"I'll see you after work" Steve grinned and left the room

Howard Stark's Mansion

"Why isn't this working?" Howard scowled, his eyes ran over the beeping machine that was plugged into electrodes that were pasted onto Peggy's temples. Her vital signs seemed normal, and she looked calm, but of course, she was completely unresponsive, and had been for the past few hours.  
"I should've been with her" Daniel paced back and forth  
"Now then, Agent Sousa, there's no way anyone could've known this would happen" Jarvis tried to console him  
"Still" Daniel glanced up at the British butler, "I could've done something, anything. Damn it, why isn't it me lying here instead of her"  
"Ms. Carter has managed to help us all" Ana spoke softly, "Perhaps it's time we can return the favor"

Hydra

"Very good" Smyth grinned, "If my calculations are correct, Agent Peggy Carter is resting in peace"  
"But she's not dead" the Hydra agent shot back  
"It matters not" Smyth waved his worries away, "She is at peace, far more than she should be. She has everything she ever wanted" his smile showed off a menacing set of teeth  
The Hydra underling stared dumbly at his commanding officer  
Smyth opened a folder on his desk, showing off the paperwork, "It was a simple matter of finding out what Peggy Carter wanted most. Obviously, she wished to be with Captain America" he turned and looked at the agent, "Did you know that each person's brain has its own individual wavelength?"  
The agent frowned  
"Apparently not" Smyth scoffed. He pointed to the paperwork in the open folder, "Dr. Fennhoff had very detailed notes, including how to map brainwaves, and how to alter them"  
The agent said nothing in response. Perhaps this was an easier tactic than speaking up  
"Once Peggy Carter was held captive in her personal dream world, we can now begin phase two of our plan"

Howard Stark's Mansion

"Wavelengths are a funny thing" Howard grinned wryly  
"Sir, there are times when a little clarification might be helpful" Jarvis sighed  
"Alpha, Beta, Theta, Gamma, they're all different" Howard explained, "But Peggy, right now, she's going through something else. It's not really Theta, and she's not dreaming, but her brain is functioning as if she's awake"  
"So what can we do about it?" Daniel implored, "how can we help her?"  
"I'm glad you asked" Howard grinned, "have you heard of lucid dreaming?"  
Daniel stared blankly at him  
"Lucid dreaming" Howard went on, "is when you realize that you're dreaming. You can change your dream because you know that you're in a dream"

Another World

"Mummy, tell me the story of how you met Daddy again" the towheaded boy giggled  
Peggy stared at him. He had Steve's hair, of course, but her eyes. It was slightly unnerving to see her own eyes shining back at her from inside someone else. A thought creeped into her conscious, "What if Daniel and I had children? Would they have his eyes or mine?"  
No sooner had she had the thought when it was dashed away  
"Mummy!" the boy whined, "Oh, do tell me again, please!"  
"I uh-" she began, "We met while we were in the military. Your father—he was very brave"  
"No Mummy!" the boy's eyes glinted in the morning sunlight as it shone through the apartment's windows, "That's not the truth" his voice took on a singsong quality  
Peggy cleared her throat, "I think it's time for breakfast" she got up off the bed and bustled the child into the kitchen

Hydra

"Phase two?" the underling looked confused  
"Think" Smyth barked, "How do you win at chess?"  
The man furrowed his eyebrows but said nothing  
"You take out the most powerful piece on the board" he smiled with self-satisfaction, "The queen"  
"But that was phase one"  
"Yes" Smyth nodded knowingly, "now that Carter is out of the way, we can begin with phase two, sending troops to overpower the Americans"  
"And Carter?" the minion finally asked  
"Thanks to Dr. Fennhoff's schematics, we've got the power to keep Ms. Carter in blissful peace, until she wakes up to find her entire world in ruins" he laughed

Howard Stark's Mansion

"Are you sure this will work?" Daniel narrowed his eyes at Howard  
"Have I ever steered you wrong?" Howard grinned  
"It would be best not to answer that question" Jarvis put in  
Daniel flipped through the SSR file on Steve Rogers to brush up on him in case it might help, "Any port in a storm" he mused. Everything seemed fine, Rogers had trained at Camp Lehigh, Dr. Erskine handled his treatment. Daniel sighed, "How did she ever pick me when she had a chance with him?"  
"Just put these on" Howard's voice blasted Daniel out of his thoughts. Howard handed him a pair of circular electrodes. The wire leads hung limply from the devices  
"Where?" Daniel stared at the equipment in his right hand  
Howard squelched a verbal jab, "On your temples" he motioned toward Peggy, "like her"

Another World

"What would you like for breakfast darling?"  
"Cereal" he hopped up on a cushioned wood chair  
Peggy brought a bowl and spoon to the table, and went back for the cereal from the cupboard and a bottle of milk from the refrigerator.  
She poured the rice cereal into the bowl and then added milk. The cereal sparked to life, emitting a crackling pop when the milk hit it.  
Peggy frowned. In the back of her mind, she heard the crackle and pop of a radio, and a voice came through,  
"There's not going to be a safe landing, but I can try and force it down."  
Peggy blinked. The cereal continued to sputter. The boy stirred it noisily, making airplane sounds as he churned his spoon  
The child's sound effects morphed into the sound of a real airplane's engines in Peggy's mind. The voice returned,  
"There's not enough time. This thing's moving too fast and it's heading for New York. I've got to put her in the water."

Howard Stark's Mansion

Daniel lay on the bed next to Peggy's, electrodes strapped to his temples. He glanced over at his wife, the mother of his child, their child. He remembered how scared he'd been when he came home and four year old Michael had run up to him, crying that Mummy wouldn't wake up. Thankfully, Ana and Edwin Jarvis had helped him, them, practically immediately, assisting with childcare and daily chores of raising a small child.  
Angie Martinelli, Peggy's friend, now a fellow agent, had taken up a temporary position as interim director of SHIELD, the new organization that succeeded the SSR. That is, Angie had taken up the position with the hopes that Peggy would soon regain consciousness.  
But that was days ago, and it felt like eons to Daniel. He lay on the bed, the electrodes on his forehead, and glanced over at her, "Please just wake up" he sighed  
Howard Stark had overheard him, "That's where you come in" he smirked, "now, I'm going to give a light sedative. Hopefully, we can synchronize your brain's wavelengths with hers"  
"Sort of that, 'Great minds think alike' adage?" Daniel looked up momentarily  
"Sure" Howard didn't look at him, but rather stared at the screen's readouts.  
Daniel closed his eyes as the sedative began to work, while Howard turned the black dials on the device, as he calibrated Daniel's wavelengths to Peggy's, in hopes of their dream states synch up together.

Another World

Daniel opened his eyes. He stood on a city street, in New York city, "Everything looks normal" he leaned to his left, and nearly fell over. He looked down, and realized that he wasn't holding onto anything. His crutch was gone. He gingerly took a step forward, and his left foot touched the ground from its momentary liftoff from the pavement. He wiggled his right toes in his shoe, and then his left. "I'll be damned" he grinned, "What have you done, Peggy?" Maybe it wasn't so bad here  
He glanced around, "If I were Peggy, where would I be?" he soon found his bearings, and made his way down to the Bell Telephone Company  
He walked into the building, but Rose was nowhere to be found. He tried heading to the switchboard, but was stopped by two burly looking guards  
"You can't go back there, sir" they lifted him centimeters off the ground  
"I just wanted to talk to someone" Daniel shouted  
"There's nothing there" they pushed him out the doors  
"Then what's wrong if I take a look?" he frowned as the doors slammed shut. Daniel tried the doors again, but they were locked.  
"What is going on here?" he looked up at the building

Hydra

"Now that Agent Carter poses no threat to us, begin releasing the soldiers" Smyth explained  
"But sir, they're not nearly ready yet"  
"They'll be fine" he waved away the minion's concerns, "now go" he shooed him away, "be done with it"  
The crony slunk away, unsure of whether to voice his worries, but thought best of saying nothing, and rather, doing as he was told.  
Smyth, alone at last, leaned back into a cushioned desk chair, "Yes, Agent Carter" he smiled to himself, "Enjoy your heart's desire" he laughed

Howard Stark's Mansion

Daniel bolded upright, the electrodes still on his forehead  
"Why did you pull me out?" he shouted at Howard  
"Slow down there, cowboy" Howard put up a hand in defense, "I've been doing some calculations on this coma she's under"  
"You said it was like she was asleep"  
"A little sleep is good, but too much of it, and we call it a coma" Howard glared. He went on, "It seems like whatever she's under, we can't jolt her out of it. Trust me, I tried"  
"Ok, so?" Daniel nodded to show he understood  
"If I may" Ana interjected, "It means that Ms. Carter can't be awoken by another person. She'll have to conclude her dream on her own, and wake up on her own terms, not on anyone else's"  
Daniel gave a dry laugh, "Just like every other day"  
Howard, Jarvis and Ana looked on  
"Go ahead" Daniel instructed, "Send me back, now"  
The others looked at him, and at one another  
"Do it" Daniel shouted, "I know how to help her out"  
"Fine" Howard nodded, and turned the machine on again.

Another World

Daniel materialized somewhere else. He picked up a newspaper off the ground, "New Jersey?" he frowned. Then he remembered, "Camp LeHigh is in New Jersey" he took off running toward a bus depot.

Peggy Carter sat in a bus, on its way to where her husband, Steve Rogers worked. By her side was her young son  
"Are we going to visit Daddy right now?" he looked up at her  
"Yes, yes we are" Peggy stared resolutely ahead. A life of being homebound, caring for an active child was not what she'd signed up for, no matter who it was with, even the love of her life.  
"Where's the action, the thrill, the life of adventure?" she thought to herself, "Michael was right. I don't want this. I don't want to just be someone's wife. I want to do things on my terms"  
She sighed, "How had things gotten so mucked up?" she silently asked herself.  
The bus lurched to a halt at a stop. Passengers exited, others boarded the bus. Peggy glanced up. A dark haired man stood between the two rows of seats, at the front of the bus, and peered down the aisle.  
Their eyes met.  
"Peggy" he spoke from realization  
"Daniel" she smiled, her first real smile since she'd woken up that morning. She'd woken up next to Steve.  
And this was their son on the seat next to her.  
Peggy's smile dropped.  
As if on cue, the child piped up, "Mummy, who is that?"  
"Why, that's my-" she stopped abruptly  
Daniel looked hurt  
"Where have I met you? You seem so familiar. Your name is Daniel, isn't it?"  
"Yes" he finally nodded, "It is. I work with—Jack Thompson" he explained  
"I see" she smiled briefly. Whatever she'd recognized seemed to have been forgotten just as soon as it had been remembered  
"She's in there. She's got to be" Daniel thought silently, trying not to stare at his wife. He glanced down at the little boy. Blonde hair. Brown eyes. Creepy as hell.  
They rode in silence. The other passengers seemed to ignore them. Finally, Daniel turned to Peggy, "This bus is going to Camp LeHigh, right?"  
"Why yes, it is" she nodded, "Are you going there, too?"  
"I am" he couldn't help smiling at her  
"Were you a soldier, by any chance?"  
"I was" he was thrilled she remembered something, anything, "I was with the Allied and we got caught by a Hydra blockade. It's where I lost my" he stopped abruptly  
"You lost what?" she politely asked after a few beats of silence  
A memory wafted up to Daniel's consciousness, a joke he'd made to her, years ago, "Half my stuff's still missing. Can't find my leg anywhere"  
He looked down, patted what felt like a very real knee under his left trouser leg  
"I—uh—lost the woman I was supposed to get married to" he looked despondent  
"I'm sorry to hear that" she sounded genuinely concerned, "Was it a difficult breakup"  
"Breakup" Daniel grinned wryly. He wanted to repeat an outburst from what seemed like forever ago, "Peggy, she broke it off with me because she thinks I'm in love with you"  
But he just sat there for a moment, "It was difficult. I thought I'd found – I guess the right partner, even though I haven't danced in years"  
Daniel's words struck something inside of Peggy  
"What did you say?" she leaned closer to him  
"That I hadn't danced in years"  
"No no, something before that"  
"I thought she was the right partner" he smiled nervously  
"Yes, I suppose so" she finally replied. She was busy trying to make sense of the swirling memories inside of her mind  
Before Daniel could say anything in response, the bus lurched to a stop. They were in the middle of nowhere, or so it seemed. A metal pole was embedded into the ground. On it, swung the camp's sign, marking this place as the training ground.  
"I guess this is our stop" Daniel stood up, still not completely used to walking unaided. Peggy took her son's hand and the three made their way to the camp office.  
Soon, they arrived at the office, nothing more than a wood shack with a metal placard denoting its denotation.  
Steve was already there, seated at a desk, as he worked through sheaves of papers  
"Darling?" Peggy broke through the sound of office work. Steve looked up and smiled  
"What brings you two down here?" Then he saw Daniel behind her, and his smile fell  
"Get back!" Steve shouted, and stood up so fast that the chair he'd been seated on tipped over and clattered to the ground  
"What's wrong?" Peggy froze in place, very much unlike her.  
"Don't you recognize him? He's a Hydra soldier!" Steve pointed a threatening finger at Daniel.  
Daniel raised his hands up in defense, "I'm just here to help out"  
"A likely story" Steve whipped out a service revolver with one hand. With his other hand, he pushed Peggy and the boy back  
"Guards!" he shouted to people outside the makeshift office. Moments later, two burly guards materialized in the office entrance. Daniel immediately recognized them as the goons from the dream world New York Telephone Company  
"Peggy" he shouted as the guards held him back. Steve didn't shoot him, but rather pistol whipped Daniel in the face. Daniel doubled over. Dream or not, this hurt like hell.  
Peggy winced as she saw the fight. This wasn't right, "Steve, stop it"  
"Sorry" he shook his head, "I can't do that"  
"Peggy" Daniel craned his neck to look at her, "This isn't real, none of it is. Howard's trying to figure out what happened, but we need you. All of us. I need you"  
"Howard? Daniel, what's going on?"  
"Don't listen to him" Steve ordered, "He's trying to confuse you with lies."  
"No! I'm trying to remind you of the truth."  
Steve struck him again in the face. This time with his hand.  
Daniel forced his torso upwards, to look at Peggy, "Life isn't perfect. I know it can be hard, and it feel like you're fighting it all on your own. But you're not. We're there for you. All of us"  
"All of us" Peggy repeated. Her mind flashed images of people.  
"Angie, Jarvis, Ana, Howard, all of us love you. We have a son. He needs you"  
Peggy opened her mouth. A small gasp escaped.  
"Michael" Daniel went on, "He's almost five. He's got my hair, and your eyes. Really"  
Peggy looked back at the blonde boy. Suddenly, he didn't look as cute as she'd remembered. He smiled naughtily at her.  
She peered at him, "What's your name?"  
"Don't you know, Mummy?"  
She forced a smile, "Pretend I don't"  
"Johann" he smiled gleefully  
Peggy shook her head, "Steve would never allow any child of ours to be named after that monster"  
"I wish you could've had a life with Steve, even if it meant losing whatever we had. I know he was your first love. We talked about that, on our honeymoon. I was ok with that. I wish I could've known him. We might have even been friends, but this, this isn't real. Even if you could've been with Steve, it wouldn't be like this. Would the man you loved act like this?" he looked up at Steve, a gun trained on Daniel's head.  
"Deep down, you know it. You know that this isn't real." Daniel continued, "Look, I can't promise you a life without pain, because pain is a part of life. It's what makes us who we are. It makes you a hero. You fight every day to keep people from struggling like you have. I know you can remember. Please, if you try, please try. We need you. We need Agent Carter"  
A memory hit Peggy like an assailant's punch, "What's your name, darlin'?" Hugh Jones smiled saucily at her.  
"Agent" she'd replied  
"Agent" she smiled now, "Yes" she nodded  
"Peggy, I can't choose this for you. You've got to choose it for yourself. Please come back to us, Peggy"  
Peggy stepped forward, facing Steve's back, and put her hand on Steve's shoulder. He turned around and faced her  
"I want this – I wish that this was true, that you're alive, and you're here, and we're together, but it's not" she gazed sadly into his blue eyes, "This isn't real" she sighed.  
In one move, she snatched away his pistol and had it trained on him  
"I'm so sorry" she sniffed back tears, "Goodbye, my darling" and shot him point blank in the head.  
The world turned to black.

Howard Stark's mansion

Peggy snapped open her eyes and gasped. She bolted upright in the bed, glanced furtively all around her, still afraid that she'd woken up from one dream into another nightmare  
"You're all right, Peg" Howard smiled  
"No, no I'm not" she stared at him, and then turned to look at Daniel, who was already awake, and sitting upright on the bed next to hers, "You did it" she gazed at him  
"No" he shook his head, "you did. You wanted out. You managed to get out of there"  
"Because you showed me what I had to live for"  
Daniel blushed, "I'm just glad you're back"  
"Apparently, just in time" Angie walked through the door, "Glad you're back, English. It's hard holding down the fort when you're taking a nap here" she winked  
"How did you?" Peggy began  
"Jarvis called me right away" Angie nodded at the butler  
"I shall assist in any way possible"  
"Oh, I do know that Mr. Jarvis" Peggy smiled warmly  
"We've got enough problems, and you woke up just in time to handle them" Angie explained, "We've been getting calls that people are being attacked by – by kids"  
"Kids?" Daniel frowned  
"Little girls"  
"The child assassins" Peggy realized aloud, "The Russian boarding school"  
"Let's go then" Daniel swung his legs off the bed and nearly fell over as his prosthesis buckled under his sudden movement  
Peggy took his hand and helped him up. Jarvis handed him his crutch. Daniel smiled sheepishly at them, "Still haven't got my land legs yet" he joked  
There was a beat of movement as everyone grabbed coats, jackets, and needed equipment as they headed down the hallway to the mansion's entrance. Daniel struggled to keep pace with Peggy's quick strides. He leaned over toward her, "Was this—do you – are you ok with this? Waking up to this life?"  
She looked at him and smiled, "Daniel, darling, this is my life, fighting right alongside you. This is where I belong"


End file.
